Trimming knife and blade holder



Sept 9, .931. G. c. WEBSTER TRIMMING KNIFE AND BLADE HOLDER Filed July 5, 1931 m u u u u m w wmvrog.

Patented Sept. 29, 193i PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE o. WEBSTER, 01' L05 Antennas, cALIroRnIA TRIMMING KNIFE AND BLADE HOLDER Application filed July 3, 1931. Serial No. 548,628.

This invention relates to improvements in cutting tools or implements for slitting purposes. v

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a simple, eflicient and inexpensive devicedesigned for especial use amongpaper hangers, painters, and other artisans and mechanics who find occasion frequently to cut and slit paper, and other materials.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tool so designed, shaped and constructed that it will permit a slitting operation to take place quickly and accurately along a ruled line or without the aid of a ruled line.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an implement shaped to provide a curved rest at its front portion for the purpose of guiding the cutting blade held in the implement along the material to be out.

A further object of this invention is to provide a spring metal strap doubled upon itself to provide a pair of squeezable handle bars in conjunction with one handle bar of which a rotary cutter is mounted and in conjunction with the other of which a safetyv razor blade is supported.

A still further object of this invention is to provide means for slitting materials together with means for engagement with the material to effectively guide the movement of the slitter.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a pair of squeezable handle bars, of which one is made longer than the other, the terminal of one bar curving upwardly and formed with aslit thru which the safety razor blade fits and projects to provide a cutting corner for slitting purposes.

A further important feature thereof is to provide a pair of squeezablehandle members, means limiting the separation of the bars, a razor blade holder mounted upon one of the handle bars and means for adjustably projecting the blade to vary the depth of the slitting stroke of the implement.

A still further object of this invent-ion is to provide, in conjunction with the foregoing parts a gauge and guard for the slitting edge of the cutter blade designed to adjustably engage one of the handle bars in the vicinity of the cutter blade.

With the above and other objects in view my invention consists in the combination, arrangement and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specifications, and then, more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters designate similar partsthruout the respective views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation-of my invention, i

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof,

Figure 3 is a fragmental detail .view of a'razor blade holder with adjusting means,

Figure 4 is a. cross section taken thru the handlebars, showing the guard thereon,

with the adjusting screw,

. Figure 5 is a bottom vention, Figure 6 is, a front end elevation of the cutting implement,

Figure 7 is another end elevation of said implement, and

Figure 8 is a fragmental detail view of the blade holder, and blade guard, the implement being tipped to rest the blade upon the guard, the guard being applied to the materialto be cut.

Referring to the drawings, which are merely illustrative of my invention a spring metal strap is folded or doubled upon itself to provide the pair of parallel ribbed handle bars 10, 11 arranged in squeezable relation, the bi'ght portion thereof being designated 12. The handle bar 10 is slightly raised at its outer end whereits terminal curves upplan View of my in wardly 18, to which is secured in overlying relation the bar 14, terminating in an eye 17 receiving the shaft 15 on which is suitably journaled a rotary cutter 16, to be used by paper hangers and the like.

The other handle bar 11 projects forwardly beyond the bar 10 and curves upwardly and forwardly to provide a foot rest B whose tip end is designated 28. This foot rest is formed with an elongated slit 29 therein. There is a flat lever member 41 operatively pivoted upon a pivot rod 21, whose ends are fixedly received in the opposite parallel arms 19, 20 of' a saddle member also including the upper lrame part 18 and the lower frame part 21. The bars 18 and 21 engage the outer faces 01: the handle bars 10, 11 to limit the distance of their separation.

The lever member ell is flanked at its inner end with a pair of parallel triangular walls to which is integrally formed a forwardly projecting upright thin base 82, carrying a: pair of pins C so that a safety razor blade may have its usual centering holes presented so the pins can project thru them to center the blade upon this base. It is to be noted however that the safety razor blade 13 when thus centered upon pins C of the base 32 is held against displacement from the base thru intervention of the resilient inverted ll-sha-ped clamp 30 which straddles the blade 13 and holds it against the base, but allows this clamp to be removed from the base at random.

In order to permit the razor blade 13 to be adjusted relatively to the foot rest B of the implement it isnecessary to provide means. for raising or lowering the blade holder to assure that the cutting corner of the blade will project a greater or lesser distance thru the foot rest. For this purpose a set screw 22 is threaded thru the lever 41, so as to engage the handle bar 11, while its other endpasses thru the other handlebar 10. A coiled spring is located so as to bridge the space between the handle bars 10, 11 so that it bears at one end againsthandle bar 10, and at its opposite end upon handle bar 11, there being a handle or head 23 on this set screw designed to be turned so as to rotate the threaded set screw in the lower handle bar 11. It-follows, that, since the lever 11 is pivoted to the rod or Wire 21, curled as at 26, externally of saddle plate, to confine this rod, when the set screw is rotated the lever 41 begins to have its forward portion move upwardly or downwardly, depending on the direction in which the set screw is turned. Hence if the lever moves downwardly the razor blade will be caused to project its greatest distance thru slit 29' of the foot rest end of the handle bar 11, and vice versa if the lever is moved upwardly. The spring 2.7 exerts pressure upon the lever so it is tensioned in the act of raising the lever l1, and this spring automatically assists the lever 41 is regaining its lowermost position.

I also provide a guard and centering device for the tool or implement. This device takes the shape of a long slender lkshaped member whose contacting rods 33 join the loop terminal 33a, the inner portions 01' these rods being separated apart, and having their extreme outer ends shaped to provide a pair of oppositely arranged transversely disposed U-shaped spring wire clamps 37, designed to snap frictionally but slidably into engagement with the opposing edges of the squeezable handle bars. The extreme outer points of these U-shaped clamps are shaped to provide the hooks or lugs- 38 also engaging the edge of the tool or implement. In the slit of this guard the projecting cutting portion of the blade is caused to extend.

The tool is held with the rotary cutter wheel in engagement with the surface or material to be cut. It it is desired to guide the cutter blade 13 against the edge o l the material to be cut as the bladepulled along thereupon, the guard lip 33 is de signed to be pushed or frictionally slid along the curved foot rest 28 of the implement to assume the position shown in Figure 8: where it will beseen that the clan'ips 37 are located at the extreme tipof the implement. It the implement be new tilted over as shown in Figure 8 and held at a bias it will be clearly seen that the corner cutting edge oi the blade may project tar enough, if desired, to clear the material to be cut, and the intermediate cutting edge of the blade may be presented against the edge of the paper or material to be cut, as the tool or implement is drawn against the paper or material, so as to slit the same, and at this time the guard rests fiat upon the supporting surface with the n'iaterial di rectly over the same. The pre t imple ment does slitting by pulling agai the material to be cut. All of the blade canbe utilized, it neee be, for cutting pur -iosev and its entire edge can be aused to project thru the slit 29. A complete cut can be made on the material by a pulling action. The implement is held against wobblingi' as the guard adjusted in set position. The blade carrier can be adjusted toany desired position so the bladeeuts a quiz-l; or slow stroke. The spring equalizes the ressure on the cutter blade, for any complete strokeof the blade, so the blate does not out too deep in the material. The operator can also completely disengage the knife from the slit by depressing the linger in the proper way as both handle bars may be squeezed together; The rotary trimmerknife 15-2111 important ad unct. I do not limit myself to the exact details of construction but intend to cover all variations set forth in the claims;

\Vhat I desire to claim is 1. A device as described consisting of a spring metal strap doubled upon itself to provide parallel handle bars, one of said bars extending beyond the other and curving upwardly and forwardly, the curved front portion of the mentioned bar having an elevated slit thru which a safety razor blade may adjustably project, a blade carrier having an inner saddle piece disposed between the handle bars, means pivotally mounting said saddle piece for swinging movement to adjustably position the razor blade, and manually operable means for actuating said blade carrier and for locking it in ad usted position. 1

2. A device as described consisting of a spring metal strap doubled upon itself toprovide parallel handle bars yieldably dis posed, a guard engaging the handle bars for limiting the outward separation of the handle bars, a safety razor blade carrier having an inner portion pivotally secured to said guard for a swinging movement, means carried by the outer end of said carrier for holding the razor blade, a spring bridged .1 across the handle bars and bearing against the carrier to oppose its swinging movement, a set screw rotated to effect the swing ing'of the carrier upwardly at its forward end and formed with a slit thru which the blade projects for a cutting action.

A device as described consisting of a spring metal strap doubled upon itself to provide a pair of spaced parallel approachable handle bars, a guard engaging said handle bars to limit their separating move-' ment, a razor blade carrier pivotally at its inner end to said guard for adjustably positioning the blade angularly of one of said arms, a set screw threaded thru said carrier and engaging at its inner end one of the handle bars to effect the swinging of the carrier when it is turned, meansfor turning said set screw, and resilient means between the handle bars against the tension of which the carrier is adjusted.

4. A device as described consisting of a spring metal strap doubled upon itself to provide a pair of spaced parallel yieldable handle bars, one of which projects beyond the other in a forward curved direction, the

curved end of the mentioned bar having an elongated slit, thru which a razor blade may adj ustably project, a blade carrier having an inner U-shaped saddle piece and forwardly extending fiat upright web, pins on said web designed to project thru the centering holes of the razor blade, a resilient clamp for pressing the blade against the web, a coiled spring bearing on the floor of thesaddle piece and against the lower handle bar and designed to raise and lower the web for ad justably "positioning the .blade. in said slit, and a wire guard adjustably mounted on the curved end of the mentioned bar for yieldably propping theisam'e bar for guiding one corner of thecuttingedge'of the blade. 5-. As a new article-of manufacture a spring metal strap? doubled upon itself to provide apair of? squeezable handle bars, one .barprojectingbeyond the other and curvingzupwardly and forwardly therefrom and having a slit, a razor blade holder adjustably positioned between the bars to allow a blade to project yieldably thru said slit to present afcutting corner edge; means for adjusting the holder, and means for automatically locking the holder in adjusted position.

6. As a new article of manufacture a spring metal strap doubled upon itself to provide a long and short handle bar, said bars being yieldably squeezable towards each other, a coiled spring offering opposition'to the squeezing of the bars, a razor holder pivotally mounted between the bars, means for manually effecting the swinging of the blade holder against the tension of said spring to adjustably position the blade relatively to one bar, and means holding the bars against outward separation.

7. As a new article of manufacture a spring strap doubled upon itself to provide a pair of parallel spaced handle bars, one bar having a curved terminal, bearing in said terminal, a shaft in said bearing, a cut ting wheel on said shaft and means for separating said bars over variable distances.

8. As a new article of manufacture a spring strap doubled upon itself to provide a pair of parallel spaced handle bars squeezable towards each other, a razor blade holder carried by one handle bar and positioning the blade between both handle bars, means for variably separating the bars, means stopping the separating action of the bars, and means for locking the blade holder in adjusted position between the bars.

9. A device as described consisting of a pair of parallel handle bars, resilient means allowing said bars to flex towards each' other, means holding vthe bars against separation a predetermined distance, a blade holder mounted between the barsat their outer ends, means caused by one bar and engaging said blade holder to swing its inner end to cause its outer end to be adjustably positioned, and rotary manually operated means for automatically restoring the blade holder to normal position. a

10. In a device as described, a combination with squeezable spring handle, bars, means for locking the bars in variable separated distances, one bar projecting in front of the other bar and curving upwardly thereat, the curved bar having a slit, a wire guard rconsisting of a looped tongue having a :pair of yieldable contacting :stems between which a razor blade may engage, and items diverging "towards their outer end so as .to .adjustably flank any point in the length of said ,slit, and a pair of oppositely arranged U-shaped :clips, having curved terminals resiliently gripped upon the 0pposing :edges of the mentioned bar with the slit to firictionally :hold the guard in :adjusted position, said guard being arched in spaced relation beneath the adjacent bar.

In the Witness whereof he has set his hand this 27th day of June, 1931.

GEO. C. WEBSTER. 

